Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Outrage and helplessness swept through me. I kept my eyes on the child, knowing that one wrong move would end her life.
Within seconds, Priest, Ashley, and I were shoved to our knees, hands bound behind us, in the horrifying custody of Madwulf MacNally. I ordered my damned tears not to fall, even as they clogged my eyes and turned my captor blurry.
He shoved the girl into the arms of a nearby pirate and stared at me in a way that could only be defined as evil. “Kill them.”
In my periphery, a cutlass reared back, aiming for Ashley’s head.
“Noooo! Wait!” The hysteria in my voice pierced the air. “I have something you want!”
Madwulf held up a hand, staying the man with the blade. “You have nothing left, Bennett. Nothing to barter. But tell me this. Why would the Feral Priest surrender his life for the woman who killed his father?”
The truth. I still had that, and it would work in my favor. “Priest Farrell is my husband. And he loathed his father.”
Madwulf narrowed his eyes, sharp and disbelieving.
“What are you doing, Bennett?” Priest growled behind me. “Shut up and let me handle—”
I talked over his fury and told Madwulf how I arrived in this unfortunate position between my lover and my husband. I explained Priest’s infidelity, his two-year hunt for me, how I came into Ashley’s custody, and ultimately fell in love with him.
The one crucial detail I left out was my ruse on Jade. I led Madwulf to believe that my crew tossed me overboard and fled without looking back. I did not want him to know that my galleon was waiting for me on the opposite end of this island.
“So you’re married to the libertine.” Madwulf paced in front of me. “You love them both. They both love you, and if I dinna kill them, they’ll probably kill each other?”
“Probably.”
Maybe. Maybe not. The question of how they knew each other still clawed in the back of my mind.
With a disgusted expression, Madwulf stared me up and down. “If the libertine loves you, why would he expose you to syphilis?”
“I already had it, and truly, Captain, that’s the least of my concerns.” I poured the sincerity of that declaration into my voice and eyes. “I would die for them. Spare their lives, and I will give you more wealth than you would ever acquire with Blitz under your command.”
“Where is your wealth, lass?” Madwulf looked around, laughing. “You have nothing!”
“I’m the daughter of Edric Sharp, you ignorant tar. Where do you think all his spoils went?”
“She’s lying!” Kneeling beside me, Priest bellowed and jerked against the hands that restrained him. “Don’t believe anything she says.”
Stillness fell over Madwulf as he watched us closely. I had his attention.
“There’s an invaluable compass attached to Mr. Farrell’s person.” I pulled in a deep breath and released it. “Relieve him of it, if you please. It belonged to my father.”
“With pleasure.” Madwulf nodded to one of his men.
Everything inside me stopped as my most cherished possession was wrenched from the body of my seething, snarling husband. My gaze clung to the polished brass casing while it passed from one hand to the next, ending with Madwulf.
“It’s a puzzle.” I swallowed down the knot in my throat, refusing to let my grief shine. “My father hid all his treasures, locked the map of the location in that compass, and gave it to me the day he hanged. The keyhole will reveal itself with the correct combination of movements. I wear the key around my neck.”
The sudden glare of a dozen pairs of eyes seared my throat.
“You can’t open it,” I said hastily. “Not without the secret instructions, which are locked inside my head. If I die, the combination dies with me. If you kill Priest and Ashley, I will die with them, for it would be too painful to live. You can torture me for the instructions, but I swear to God, Madwulf, if you hurt them, there will be nothing left of me to break.”
“She doesn’t know the combination. It’s a trick.” Priest tried to stand and rush forward, only to be shoved face-first into the sand.
“She never mentioned a goddamned compass or a secret map.” Ashley gnashed his teeth. “She’s leading you on a wild chase. Same thing she did to me when she sent me after Priest in Nassau.”
I fisted my hands in the rope. Irritating, overprotective arseholes.
“Gag the husband and pirate hunter and string them up to a tree,” Madwulf said absently, his gaze locked on the compass in his hand. “This opens with that green stone on your neck?”
“Yes, the key and a combination of movements.”
“All right.” He prowled forward and crouched at eye level with my kneeling position. “Open it, and I’ll let your lads live.”
A few yards away, Priest and Ashley roared and snarled behind their gags, uselessly fighting the men who trussed them to a palm-tree.